Personalization, interactivity, combined services and fixed-mobile convergence can be achieved in several ways, but to succeed in the development of new services and in achieving interoperability between technologies, the industry must agree on an approach that is based on open standards and interfaces. One of the most promising approaches is to use the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) framework. IMS was originally designed to enable multimedia services for third-generation mobile terminals, but it has already been extended to handle access also from public Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) and Private Networks, and is continuing to be extended into an access-independent platform for service delivery, including broadband fixed-line access. IMS provides seamless roaming between mobile, public WLAN and private networks for a wide range of services, such as gaming and interactive IP television (IPTV) and devices, such as set-top boxes, multimedia players and digital cameras.
The ability of IMS to deliver combined services enables a seamless integration of TV, communication, and internet services to create a more convenient and attractive experience to the consumers. IMS-based IPTV also inherits all the capabilities of IMS for service roaming, thus linking the IPTV experience to a user profile, not limited to a particular device, as with traditional set-top-boxes. An IPTV service can therefore be delivered to any device adapted with an IMS interface and located within the range of the IMS domain.
Consumers want greater control over TV services and delivered content anytime, anywhere, and on any device. Personalization will enable them to customize TV and Video-on-Demand (VoD) packages according to individual preferences, and to exert greater control over the channel content. The increasing popularity of SMS-based voting and chat services in TV programs also points to strong business opportunities in the area of interactive services.
IMS-enabled IPTV uses the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), which provides a unified control scheme that can be used to control all types of media sessions as well as application services. It thus supports combined services and interactivity by joining different communications paradigms into a complete multimedia user experience.
The QR-code (Quick Response Code) is a matrix code, or two-dimensional bar code, which was created with the purpose of deriving a code which allowed its contents to be decoded at high speed. QR-codes are now used for inventory management in a wide variety of industries and has become the most popular type of two dimensional codes in Japan. Although initially used for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing, the inclusion of the QR-Code as a reading software on camera phones in Japan, has led to a wide variety of new, consumer-oriented applications, aimed at relieving the user of the tedious task of entering data into their mobile phone. QR-codes storing addresses and URLs are becoming increasingly common in magazines and advertisements in Japan. The addition of QR-codes on business cards is also becoming common, greatly simplifying the task of entering the personal details of a new acquaintance into the address book of a users mobile phone. Consumers with capture programs and a PC with an RS-232C-interface may use a scanner to acquire data from a QR-code.
A user may build a personal profile by registering (bookmarking) products which are of interest. To bookmark a product, the user registers a code attached to the product by way of scanning a QR-code or, alternatively, by reading an RFID tag, colorcode or matrix code etc, and stores an associated product identity. Information related to the product may be stored in a database and/or on a media player, such as, e.g., a Network Personal Video Recorder (NPVR). If such information comprises personalized advertisements, these may be viewed on, e.g., a TV, PC or a mobile device on a later occasion according to personal preferences.
One way of delivering personalized advertisements, which is applied in many of the commercial systems available today, is based on analysis of data entered by a user. Personalized advertising brings more value both for the user and for the content provider. In existing technology the personalization of the delivered content is based on previous searches that the user has performed, or on messages written earlier. The fact that this information is stored may also be transparent to the user.
A three-dimensional code system that integrates both online and offline, and analog, as well as digital components is based on the use of colorcodes. In this system a camera recognizes indexed codes, comprising specific data. A matrix of blocks and analog data pertaining to the number of colors are digitized and processed by a dedicated server, using unique addresses registered for each of the codes. A typical colorcode interaction flow starts with the authentication of a colorcode by a media player. A number associated with the colorcode is then transferred to a server. Finally, content or a set of actions represented by the colorcode, and associated with the number are transferred to the media player for further processing.
FIG. 1 illustrates an IMS-based IPTV architecture which provides combined services and fixed-mobile convergence. Although specified for IPTV services, a similar architecture could be used for other interactive services as well, which are accessed via a common IMS system. The architecture of FIG. 1 includes an IMS Client environment 100, IMS application servers 101, a common IMS system 102, a transport layer 103 and a Service Delivery Platform (SDP) 104. The Service Delivery Platform offers a standardized set of support functions that can be shared among various service components.
The main functional blocks in the IMS client environment are the IPTV applications 105, other applications 106, such as combinational IMS services, the media client 107, the SIP client 108.
In the client environment, the IPTV applications are responsible for all interactions between IPTV services and users on their media players 110, for instance a set-top box/TV, PC or cellular telephone. Each media player also hosts a media client, which receives and decodes the video and audio streams that make up the digital TV signals, and a SIP client which provides the control interface to the IMS core.
Depending on the application, media players will be required to support specific hardware 111, such as a camera, a scanner or a microphone, which may be attached to, or integrated with the media player.
The IPTV Application servers 112, being the central point of the IPTV service, manage all IPTV-specific functions not provided through IMS interfaces, and are connected to content providers 113. Each IPTV application server interfaces with the IMS core and functions provided by the service delivery platform.
The common IMS system includes the IMS core 114, comprising Call Session control Functions (CSCF's) 115, the Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 116 and IMS enablers 117. The IMS core provides a control layer that controls services provided over fixed and mobile access networks. The Call Session control Function (CSCF), which is the central control point in IMS, provides SIP routing services and enforces Authentication and Authorization (AA). The HSS generally stores and provides user data in IMS. Additional complexity may be contained in additional databases. The most relevant IMS enablers for personalized TV service are the Presence and Group Management (PGM), and the IMS messaging (IMSM).
The Service Delivery Platform (SDP) provides a variety of support functions that can be shared along different types of services. The support functions comprises service provider support functions, such as different charging models (Charging) 118, Operation and Maintenance (O&M) 119 support functions and content related support functions, such as Electronic Service Guides (ESG) 120. ESGs provide information about available services and contain an electronic program guide that enables viewers to navigate, discover, and select programs and content by time, title, channel and genre.
A problem with existing solutions is that information collection associated with a user using a service is often done automatically, without actively involving the user. The user might even be unaware of the information collection taking place during the execution of a service. This kind of information collection does not encourage the user to update and to reuse the stored information for e.g. personalization purposes.
Another problem is that information collection is also often limited to Internet searches and ordering, while other activities which are associated with the human behaviour are not captured.
In addition, it is not always appropriate that immediate actions are triggered upon having collected information from a scanned code or a read RFID tag. This problem raises the question of how to enable updating of information related to a certain activity, and a triggering of said activity, so that the activities can be scheduled in various different ways on the basis of personalized information stored and processed over time.
Yet another problem with presently used systems is how to execute personalized interaction of individual users, e.g. when different family members are watching content displayed on a shared device, such as a TV. Today this type of problem entails the use of an active login procedure for each family member, wherein each family member may authorize oneself by entering a secret PIN code to a shared TV remote control. This approach does neither provide for a flexible method for updating of user preferences, nor does it encourage user personalization associated with individual user interactivity.